Politicians are hol off AGAIN
Give us a break.. tds and senators in 12-day recess
IRISH politicians are on their holidays for 12 days again – only a month after they came back from a 10-week break.
The Dail and Seanad closed for a recess on Thursday evening and will not return for their next sittings until Tuesday, November 6.
They had plenty of holidays in the summer before coming back to the Dail on September 18.
Oireachtas members had been on a break from July 12, giving them more than a sixth of the year off in one chunk.
Christmas is also looming and TDS and senators can look forward to another lengthy break, while most people will have to return to their workplace in early January. The Oireachtas plans to close on Wednesday, December 19, and will not reopen for business until Tuesday January 15.
When politicians are at work they carry out a three-day week while in Leinster House.
Dail and Seanad sessions generally start at 2pm on Tuesdays and finish up at around 5.30pm on Thursdays.
They are supposed to work some Fridays to clear backlogs of legislation but there is only one scheduled for the rest of this year on December 14.
On Thursday, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael said they held “a good constructive first meeting” on the confidence and supply arrangement.
Both parties have agreed to meet again on Tuesday to exchange papers which will be reviewed.
Negotiating teams are looking again at the deal that has kept the Government in power over the past three budgets.
The teams will then discuss a potential extension.
Tanaiste Simon Coveney, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty and Parliamentary Party chairman Martin Heydon are representing Fine Gael in the discussions.